The Virus
by EdenAdvance
Summary: PLain silliness, my schoolassignment of 300 words... it got out of hand


The Virus

The Virus by [EdenAdvance][1]

SUMMARY: Traveling towards New Pacifica, the group meets their nightmare.   
RATING: Some blood, but nothing too terrible. PG-13, I guess.   
NOTES: This was written for my reading assignment. I had to finish the book (with a minimum of 300 wrds, they never said what the max was) with a closed ending. If this isn't closing, I don't know what it is.   
FEEDBACK: Yes! Please, tell me what you think. But send it to the following addy: [EdenAdvance@yahoo.com][1]. Same goes for archiving. 

The Virus.  
Copyright 2000

As the small caravan slowly crept across the desert-like terrain, the man known as Gaal turned to his Grendlers. 

As they finished digging, he could already hear the muffled screams of his first victim in years. The newcomers hadn't met their worst nightmare on this planet yet...

The sun had already reached the highest position it was going to achieve today. Slowly the big Transrover came to a stop and Danziger hopped out. 

"Lunch time, people!" he called to the rest of the group.

Seeing the disagreeing look on Devon's face, he waited for her to catch up with him.

"We stopped half an hour ago, Danziger." She remarked. 

"Vehicles need to cool down if they need to make it to New Pacifica, Adair." Danziger answered as he turned to check on the DuneRail. "And if the temperature's this hot, they'll need to cool down every now and then." 

From somewhere at the back of the caravan, Devon could hear Zero's annoying song and she heard someone mutter, "I swear I'm going to kill that thing."

She looked at Danziger. 

"I checked the vehicles. They're fit to go." He informed her. Devon nodded and gave the sign to head out again.

They had traveled nearly all day until they found a suitable place to rest. They set up camp quickly, and rations were passed out. Within the hour, the group was vast asleep, with the exception of one guard and Zero. 

In the nearby bushes, a twig snapped, alarming Baines, who was guarding the camp. 

Nervously and spooked he called out. "Who's there?" Another twig snapped, this time closer to Baines' position. Baines raised the Mag-pro and called over to Zero. 

"Scan for life-signs will ya?" Baines asked as the robot sauntered over. 

"I have located one bipedal entity." Zero replied after a few seconds. "It's is headed in this direction." 

Baines squinted his eyes to see in the darker forest, as he heard another twig snap, but he couldn't make out a form. Suddenly, a dark shadow bolted out of the brushes in front of Baines. It was too late for Baines to fire the heavy weapon and he could only scream as the knife plunged in his guts.

Danziger bolted upright as he heard the scream. He pulled on his clothes quickly and ran out of the tent. The others had heard Baines cry for help as well and now they were standing at a pool of blood. The Mag-pro was lying near it, still activated. From deep within the forest, they could hear the maniacal laughter of who ever had killed the man. 

The next morning, the group was assembled around Devon again. She was yet again holding another speech, a thing she hated to do. "... The deaths of two friends have brought great tragedy over this project. Whoever killed Baines, he is not gone, so we need to keep our guard up for the next few days, maybe even weeks. But we need to get to New Pacifica, The Colony ship is depending on us." She said as she looked around the small group. 

"How can you do this to us? You bring us here, saying there's no life here and yet the commander died and now Baines. So we just have to sit by and watch our group being slaughtered? I say we go and get Baines from what ever took him. We find those diggers and we blast them away from here." Morgan spoke up. He earned a few sighs from the group, as well as agreeing nods. Devon sighed. She couldn't say that Morgan wasn't right. Who knew what got to Baines? But she was sure it wasn't the Terrians.

"We can't blast our way through the planet... but we can make sure that none of us is killed. As for the Terrians, I don't think they had anything to do with this." Danziger said before Devon could voice her thoughts. "We simply watch out. Alonzo..." Danziger looked at the pilot, who was looking a bit dazed, Danziger suspected from another dream. "Can you contact the Terrians, ask if they had anything to do with last night? At least ask if they know where Baines is." The mechanic said. 

He got a small nod from Alonzo, and Danziger looked at Devon. 

She sighed. "All right, let's pack up camp and move out then. Julia?" 

"I analyzed the blood, it's definitely Baines blood. As for Alonzo, I can sedate him and put him on the Transrover. I'll stay with him while we travel." The doctor answered. 

Thirty minutes later, the small group was on the move again. Alonzo was dreaming with the locals, but he hadn't awakened yet. Devon had reluctantly agreed with a two-man scout party, who was now reporting to Danziger. As she watched the landscape pass by, she felt the vehicle slightly change course. 

"What's happening Danziger?" she informed the driver. 

"Walman and Magus found the ship... they are waiting till we arrive. Looks like luck is finally on our way." He said, a grinning smile on his face. 

It wasn't long before they reached the ship. From the outside it looked like someone had thrown it on the barbecue, but according to Walman, the entrance, or what you could name the entrance, looked intact. A small group entered the craft, while Bess, Morgan, the children and Alonzo waited outside. 

Danziger and Devon walked silently towards what once was the cockpit. 

"Look at this," Danziger said as he pointed towards a mix of wires. "All fried... ship's beyond repair, I wonder if we can use anything. Do you think Morgans Grendlers paid a visit yet?" 

Devon shook her head and continued forward. They didn't see the green spark that emanated from the mixed wires. 

Julia was teamed up with Yale and Zero and they were now scavenging the Med-lab for usable medications. As Zero walked towards a bunch of loose wires, Julia was in time to see a spark hit Zero's chest. 

"Did you see that?" she asked the cyborg teacher.

"What?" he asked in return as he came to stand next to her.

"That spark, when Zero came near those wires, a spark jumped off." 

Yale approached the offensive wires cautiously. When he reached it, he stretched his arm out, to touch the wires. Suddenly another greenish spark jumped towards Yale and hit him in his cyborg-arm. Julia rushed towards Yale as he collapsed. 

"Devon, Danziger... anyone! Yale's down!" she called through her gear. When she reached Yale, he was already gone. When she turned, she noticed Zero advancing on her... 

When Devon and Danziger heard Julia's call, they rushed towards the Med-lab. As they approached it, they heard Julia scream. They entered just in time to see Zero holding Julia's limp body. As the robot spotted the two others, it picked up a heavy piece of metal and threw it towards Devon. Danziger pulled her away from the room before the metal could hit Devon. Together they ran towards the nearest exit. 

As the others went into the ship, Morgan sauntered into the nearby brushes, planning to relief himself. He had walked all day and his feet were hurting like hell. He muttered some curses as he nearly tripped over a dead branch. He didn't like this place at all. He hurried up, planning to be back before any scary aliens could attack him. As he turned to retrace his path towards the ship, he found himself staring into the eyes of a stranger. Worse yet, into the eyes of a killer...

Devon was the first to exit the ship, followed closely by Danziger. Bess looked surprised as she saw the pair gasping for air. 

"What happened?" Bess asked. 

"You mean... you ... didn't... hear... us?" Danziger said between breaths. 

"Zero... killed... Yale... and... Julia..." Devon informed Bess. 

"What about Walman and the others?" Bess asked. 

"We don't know. I think they didn't make it." Danziger said as he had calmed a bit. 

"Where's Morgan?" Devon suddenly asked, missing the bureaucrat.

"He went over there. Towards those... bushes. Oh my god! Morgan!" Bess screamed and bolted towards the brushes, but Danziger caught her in time. 

"We need to get out of here, before Zero finds the exit... help Devon load Alonzo on the Transrover, then start it. Head towards those mountains." Danziger said, as he grabbed a Mag-pro. 

"What are you going to do?" Devon asked.

"Checking on Morgan, I'm taking the DuneRail... I'll catch up with you. I promise." He said as he started the vehicle. 

"He's coming back... without Morgan." Bess said to Devon as she lowered the jumpers. 

"Do you see any sign of Zero?" Devon asked, not looking at the other woman. 

"Yes, he's following Danziger... I didn't know Zero could move that fast." Bess observed. 

They closed in on a ridge, filled with Terrians. At that point, Alonzo woke from his Terrian dream. 

Devon rushed over to the grounded pilot. "What happened?" 

"They... warned me. They don't know what happened to Baines. They say we are killing the planet. Something about Zero... where's the rest? I have to warn them, they can't enter the ship... I saw it in my dream." He answered, still a bit groggy from the sedative. 

"They... entered the ship. Danziger and I were the only one that made it out alive." Devon said softly. 

"And Zero is following us." Bess added. 

Then, Danziger arrived. He hopped out of the DuneRail, dragging the Mag-pro with him. 

"Morgan?" Bess asked. 

"He's dead... someone cut his throat... I'm sorry Bess, there was nothing I could've done." He answered. He kneeled next to Alonzo. 

"It's some kind of virus, Danziger. You have to stop it." Alonzo said

"I don't think I can. I fired a few shots at him, but it didn't even dent him. He just kept going."

Alonzo sighed. "It's infecting the planet, slowly killing her. The Terrians can't do anything either, they'll go into hibernation. They'll wait until planet is healed. If she'll be healed."

Devon looked at Alonzo. "And us...?"

"They are prepared to take us with them, into the ground. Because of Uly." Alonzo answered. 

"What if the planet doesn't get healed?" Bess asked. 

"Doesn't matter. It gives us a chance to survive. I say we take it. We should be grateful, they are at least giving us a chance." Danziger said.

"He's right. But the planet will heal in time. The virus needs to feed. When the planet goes into hibernation, it won't be able to feed." The pilot spoke. 

"Okay then. Tell them that we accept their offer." Devon said, looking at the rest. 

Slowly, the Terrians surrounded the small group of survivors, humanity's last hope. Together, they disappeared into the ground, waiting for the day to come that they would be able to resurface. 

The End.

   [1]: mailto:Edenadvance@yahoo.com



End file.
